Steve Zarelli presents: The Collecting Obsession

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Saturday, November 12, 2016

Almost a year and a half ago, I wrote about signature/dedication removal on baseballs. The signatures or dedications are not actually removed, rather, they are "painted" over by matching color and airbrushing. At the time, I wondered what would happen as the ball continued to age, but the paint stayed white? Would it look like white paint spots on a toned ball?

One thing I did not consider is that baseballs can expand and contract with humidity. Even a fractional change in size could theoretically crack the paint.

I think I found an example of what the "paint job" looks like when a ball has been expanding and contracting. Or maybe the paint wasn't mixed or applied properly.

Either way, it's a mess. And, it should cause anyone to think twice about dedication/extra signature removal.

Joe DiMaggio signed baseball with dedication airbrushed over. Note the white overspray on the red stitches.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

If an item is readily available in good
condition, don't buy one with condition issues unless it is at a very steep
discount.

Condition issues become less problematic
when it is a rare or high cost item. For example, a stain won't hurt a Babe
Ruth signed ball badly, but it’ll decimate the desirability of a Mantle signed
baseball.

If an item is easily available in
excellent condition, forget about the “dented cans.”

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Here is a fairly uncommon signed photograph... a Harper Lee autographed 8x10. I obtained this directly from Ms. Lee many years ago.

Harper Lee was a sporadic mail signer. I write her several times over the years with mixed success. I obtained a signed photo and a signed book. However, the last time I wrote I asked about the movie Capote in which she was portrayed... she refused my request sending back a terse few words scrawled on my request letter. I take it she did not like the movie or any attention it garnered.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Yogi Berra was truly a one-of-a-kind American icon. An all-time great baseball player as well as a World War II combat veteran. I had the privilege to meet Yogi a few times... my only regret is not getting a photograph with him.

Monday, July 06, 2015

Every once in a while I must slow down and observe the car wreck that is Charlton Heston autographs on eBay. Four years after the Charlton Heston secretarial study, they still abound unabated. Of the first 25 listings, at least 13 are not authentic. That is a 52% fake rate.

Monday, June 22, 2015

There are resources that will airbrush baseballs to remove personalizations or unwanted signatures to create a "single signed ball." It's important to note that the personalizations or unwanted signatures have not been removed, rather they have been skillfully painted over.

In most cases I have seen, the sellers do not disclose this type of work has been performed. The ethics of that is another topic unto itself.

For removed personalizations, look for the remaining writing to look off center or oddly placed. Sometimes you will see subtle hints of airbrushing that touches the edge of the remaining signature, or slight remnants of the removed writing that remain close to the signature. You may see slight over spray onto the red stitching and/or white spray into the holes of the stitching.

Finally, if you have the ball in hand, the paint should light up unnaturally under a UV light.

While the airbrush artists do a good job at color matching, what happens if the leather in the ball tones over time? I doubt the paint will tone along with it. Will you end up with a naturally toned ball that looks like it has white paint spots on it?

In my view, the forgery problem on eBay is as bad or worse than it has ever been. Anyone with a trained eye knows eBay is overrun with fake autographs. There are no meaningful measures in place to keep bad sellers in check and the sellers know they can peddle forgeries with impunity.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

James Stewart was a willing through-the-mail signer for many years. However, after suffering medical problems in the 1990s, his office fulfilled mail requests with secretarial signatures and an Autopen machine.

The proxy signatures -- typically signed "James Stewart" -- are obvious to anyone with some familiarity with James Stewart's authentic signature. Autopen machines are most commonly used by politicians and astronauts, so some collectors are fooled and do not consider the possibility of an Autopen for a Hollywood celebrity.

While some collectors are familiar with the "Jimmy Stewart" pattern sent by his office primarily on photos, there were at least four other Jimmy Stewart Autopen patterns.

In the 1990s, I had a friend who worked at Crown Publishing who provided me with a dozen signed bookplates from Jimmy Stewart's book, Jimmy Stewart and His Poems. In the stack of bookplates, I identified five different Autopen patterns. Regrettably, I never properly scanned the bookplates and I thought they were lost in a move over ten years ago. As luck would have it, I recently found them mixed in with some old photos I haven't looked through in many years.

Five Jimmy Stewart Autopen patterns.

There are matches for patterns 1 through 3. There were not matches for patterns 4 and 5 in the batch, however, close examination of the signatures shows tell-tale Autopen signature characteristics: hard stops and starts; evidence of machine vibration; and very subtle "jerky" mechanical motion associated with the Autopen armature. From many years of studying the nuances of Autopen signatures, I am confident 4 and 5 are Autopen machine signed without having the benefit of matching examples.

In my experience, pattern #1 seems to be the one Stewart's office used most frequently and often appears on photographs. That said, it is entirely possible they occasionally used one of the other patterns, so be on the look out for any one of the five!